Georgia Department of Public Health - Southeast Health District - Babies Can't Wait - Candler County Health Department

Small-county public health offices carry a wide portfolio, and the same building that handles immunizations and WIC also houses the early intervention intake. That is an advantage for parents — it means the front desk staff who already know your family can point you at developmental screening without a separate referral chain.

Because Candler County’s child population is small, local caseloads are correspondingly small, and families sometimes reach the intake step faster here than in the district’s larger counties. If your child was flagged at a well-child visit in Metter or Pulaski, this is the office to call first.

Candler County families have a genuine logistical asset in Interstate 16. Savannah is reachable in roughly an hour and Macon in a bit more, which puts two significant medical markets within a same-day round trip. For a comprehensive autism diagnostic evaluation — the kind that requires a multi-hour appointment with a psychologist or developmental pediatrician — that access matters a great deal.

The sensible strategy is to run two tracks at once. Start early intervention locally through the Metter office, which does not require a diagnosis and can begin quickly, and simultaneously get on diagnostic waitlists in Savannah and Macon. Do not wait for one to finish before starting the other.

When you book a distant evaluation, ask whether the practice offers a single consolidated appointment rather than splitting intake, testing, and feedback across three separate visits. For a family driving an hour each way with a toddler, three trips versus one is often the deciding factor in whether the evaluation actually gets completed.

Babies Can’t Wait is Georgia’s statewide early intervention system for children from birth to age three, run by the Georgia Department of Public Health under Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Eligible children can receive speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, developmental instruction, service coordination, and family training, delivered in the child’s natural environment. An Individualized Family Service Plan is written with the family, and the eligibility evaluation is provided at no cost.

The statewide intake line is (800) 429-6307. No physician referral is needed and a parent can self-refer. Eligibility ends on the third birthday, when children who still need support transition to preschool special education through their local school district — a separate determination that should be started around thirty months, not later.